Allegheny River Boulevard might be getting a new look.
Oakmont has come to be known for its quaint business district marked by the brick-laden boulevard running down the middle of town. Much like any other road’s lifespan, it’s come time for the boulevard to need maintenance.
The need raises the question of how to keep the bricks while efficiently maintaining the road.
Council President Nancy Ride said getting rid of the bricks and paving over the boulevard from Hulton Road to College Avenue would “by far” be the least expensive way to repair the road.
At a projected $4.2 million, the asphalt would have a 10- to 20-year lifespan.
Every seven to 10 years, council estimated the borough will spend $300,000 to resurface the road, and $700,000 every 15 to 20 years to repave the road.
“Council as a whole was not interested (in the pavement option),” Ride said.
The next option council looked at was, again, forgoing the bricks and pouring concrete from Hulton Road to College Avenue for $8.2 million.
Ride said that option has a 60-year lifespan. The option is predicted to require minimal upkeep with cleaning and spot repairs occurring as needed.
The third option, Ride said, would be keeping the boulevard as a brick road.
That project would cost the borough $12.5 million and require regular sand maintenance every two years.
With an 80-year lifespan, the borough expects an $80,000 cost for sealant and sand maintenance once every 10 years. If there are water problems that disrupt the brick, lift-and-repair work could be required.
“These are the three absolutes. All concrete, all asphalt and all brick,” Borough Manager Scot Fodi said. “I think it’s worth it to note that council collectively really did not like the idea of all asphalt and all concrete.”
The most likely solution?
Most recently, Fodi said, council has been debating the idea of combining concrete and brick work. He said there are varying combinations of the brick and concrete work expected to call for expenditures differing about $2 million between the options.
For brick and concrete roadways alternating between intersections along the boulevard, officials project to spend $12.2 million.
That option would result in a road that’s two-thirds concrete and one-third brick.
For a straight concrete roadway with decorative brick crossings, the borough projects $10 million in expenditures.
The alternating option seemed to garner the most support from officials, Fodi said. It’s projected to have an 80-year lifespan.
Oakmont resident John Murray questioned the predicted lifespan of the concrete and brick work. He pointed out the importance of base materials versus aesthetics and complications water drainage can have on the bricks’ stability.
“I’ve been here for 20 years since we moved back,” he said. “There’s been at least two repairs.”
In 2019, the borough completed about 300 feet of brick work along the boulevard, and it cost the borough almost $130,000, Fodi said.
“As I’ve said many times, charm has a cost,” Fodi said.
Oakmont resident Rob Donatucci voiced concern about the increased water runoff the concrete could create when considering the train tracks running below the street.
“If you increase the wash of water, is the railroad going to get involved in the project, and say ‘hey, we can’t have this much water flowing through our tracks and eroding the base,’” Donatucci said.
Timing the work
“It is a rough ride along the boulevard,” said Rachel Gruver.
Gruver has co-owned Oakmont Floral and Design along Allegheny River Boulevard with her mother, Kate, since 2021.
“(The work) definitely needs to be done,” Gruver said. “I’m sure it will be a nightmare traffic-wise whenever it happens.”
From a business owner’s perspective, Gruver said she’s concerned about how the work will affect parking for her shop.
“We don’t have a parking lot,” she said. “All of our parking is on the street.”
“I’m in the corner of the bricks,” said Bill Hickey, owner of Boulevard Sweet Shoppe. “In my opinion, (they) bring a certain nostalgia, a certain look, a certain feel to the whole Oakmont shopping experience. I don’t want them to go away.”
He supports the idea of combining cement and brick work to keep the classic look while making the road easier to navigate for drivers. Hickey experienced the bricks daily when he lived in Oakmont. Even after moving to Natrona Heights, Hickey still commutes daily on the boulevard to get to his shop.
He said there’s certain parts of the road that have nearly undriveable holes where the bricks have started to sink.
This isn’t work that will happen overnight, officials assured.
“This would have to get staged over say a minimum of three years so you didn’t have a traffic — not even just vehicular, but pedestrian traffic — a real patron nightmare,” said the borough’s engineer, Shawn Wingrove.
Wingrove said three to fours years of work and consistent communication with business owners is the most likely option to keep the business district moving.
Hickey said when brick was previously replaced on the boulevard in 2019, it hit business around the worksite hard.
“I recall that it affected business because it affected traffic,” Hickey said.
Oakmont resident Bianca Labrador said while she doesn’t not live on a brick street in town, she has in the past.
“I grew up in a historic neighborhood (in Kansas) with a lot of brick streets,” she said. “We did not have the issues that Oakmont has with the brick roadways.”
Labrador raised the question of rather than using sand between bricks, which is what’s being suggested, officials look into another material that will erode at a slower pace.
Discussions about the roadway design options and hearing residents’ opinions will continue in coming months. The work will likely be paid for partially through a bond issue.
“This is a mile-long route,” Fodi said. “We cannot reasonably interrupt the business community for a decade-and-a-half and then start all over again if we don’t like the first one.”